In a strange irony, the decision of the High Court on Katy Gallagher's eligibility to sit in parliament triggered a series of byelections around the country, but residents of the ACT won't be going back to the polls.
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Ms Gallagher's time as senator ended with the High Court judgment, but the process of electing a new senator isn't quite so clean cut, and it doesn't involve an extra democracy sausage. So what happens now?
Byelections are only used for vacancies created in the House of Representatives, and Ms Gallagher didn't resign from her position in the Senate, meaning a casual vacancy that can be filled by the party itself doesn't exist.
The High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, must now wait for the Commonwealth to file a summons in front of a single justice requesting a recount of the 2016 election for senators to represent the ACT that excludes Ms Gallagher as she was ineligible.
At that hearing, which is likely to happen within the next few weeks, the court will order the Australian Electoral Commission to do the recount at a specific time and date, and also declare a date for a second hearing where the result will be declared.
Labor's David Smith is set to take the Senate seat in that recount, but with the upper house not due to sit until June 18 due to Senate estimates, he will have at least a month to wait until he can be sworn in, and possibly longer depending on when the High Court declares him elected.
Unlike her lower house colleagues who announced their intention to resign to the media a day before officially resigning to the House of Representatives, Ms Gallagher's time as a senator ended, and the salary and entitlements that go with it, as soon as the judgment came down.
It's not just Ms Gallagher who must consider what to do next, but also her staff. The employment status of her staff remains unclear; due to Labor's factional politics it's unlikely they would continue in the same roles in Mr Smith's office.
On Friday Ms Gallagher continued her steadfast silence since the decision was handed down. Aside from a written statement released on Wednesday, she has given no indication when she might front the public or media.
